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Defying Fireworks Ban, Gotti Party Erupts

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Nobody at the Fourth of July block party outside the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club in Ozone Park seemed to care that John Gotti was footing the bill.

All day long, hot dogs and hamburgers sizzled on barbecue grills. Children, with dripping ice-cream cones and sticky cotton candy, darted through the maze of grown-up legs. The Kiddie Kastle moon walk shook with bounding, squealing children. American flags flew from the well-kept brick-and-frame row houses on the side streets.

For 20 years, Mr. Gotti, the reputed head of the Gambino organized-crime family, has given a free party for the Queens neighborhood on 101st Avenue between 98th and 99th Street every Independence Day. Every year, the party ended with blazing skies of fireworks. A Street Drama

This year, the party was more than a party. It was a street drama. Defying strict police orders not to use fireworks, men on rooftops lighted up the skies with rockets and starbursts. Below them, 3,000 people chanted and cheered. And when Mr. Gotti emerged from the heavily guarded club at 9:45 P.M. and waved to the crowd, the cheers got louder.

As nearly 100 officers lined up shoulder to shoulder down the block, Mr. Gotti basked in the shower of cheers and slipped through a red door and back into the club.

Officers rushed to the rooftops. A police spokesman, Detective Fred Elwick, said later that officers issued one summons, to a teen-aged boy, charging him with using fireworks. No one in the Gotti family was charged, he said.

For the police, who had to stand by helplessly, the night was an embarrassment. They had told the party's organizers that without a permit, fireworks would be illegal. Last year, the sky was lighted up with fireworks at the party despite warnings from the captain of the 102d Precinct. The next day, Police Commissioner Benjamin Ward vowed that the Police Department would not be embarrassed again.

Mr. Gotti heads a $500 million-a-year criminal enterprise that includes loan sharking and narcotics, Federal investigators say. But to those he has been entertaining all these years, he is not the murderous criminal some prosecutors have painted, They see him as a benevolent local hero, an underworld prince who keeps the streets around their homes safe and treats them with food and fireworks on the Fourth of July. Big Police Presence

For most of the day, the party was quiet, although the police were seemingly everywhere, with a dozen officers lining barricades on each side of the block. They shut off streets for four blocks in every direction and stopped cars to ask drivers for proof that they lived in the neighborhood.

''It looks like half the 102d Precinct is here,'' said one resident, who asked that his name not be used. ''I've never seen this many cops at a community fair.'' The man said Mr. Gotti was a hero to his two sons, who stood at his side, their faces smudged with the free ice cream. ''They know he pays for all this stuff,'' he said, tousling one son's hair. ''They probably knew his name before they knew President Bush.'' Arrives in Black Cadillac

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The 48-year-old Mr. Gotti, who is under indictment in the attempted murder of a union leader, arrived at about 2:30 P.M. in a black Cadillac with tinted windows. He slipped in quickly, through one of the red, steel doors of the Bergin club, which law-enforcement officials say is his headquarters.

Outside, his driver and a bodyguard watched the street. Reputed Gambino family members came and went, while two of Mr. Gotti's brothers, Richard and Peter, supervised the barbecuing. His son, John A. Gotti Jr., helped out. Asked why he helped with the party, John Jr. said: ''We don't do this for ourselves. I got a house in the Poconos I'd rather be at.'' 'The Faces of the Kids'

Richard Gotti implored reporters to be kind to the family. ''Why don't you write a Walt Disney story for once?'' he said. ''Why does it always have to be something murderous? Just write the truth for once. Look around at the faces of the kids and write about that.''

The faces of the children were indeed gleeful. Many of the 300 adults who attended the party in the afternoon said they were grateful that Mr. Gotti gave the party every year. They said Mr. Gotti had been good to them, no matter what he may have been accused of doing. The hamburgers, many pointed out, were from Boar's Head, what they considered to be the best. And the neighborhood, they boasted, is the safest in New York.

''He's got a good heart,'' said Sal Ceffali, who had brought his wife and two grandsons. ''He's always good to the kids.''

''He takes care of people in the community,'' added his wife, Sally. ''You're not afraid to walk around at night.''

Some complained about the large number of police officers at their traditional celebration. ''I don't know why we need all these cops,'' said one resident who lives across the street from the hunting club and asked that his name not be used. ''There have never been riots or fights.'' 'Burglars Stay Away'

Edward Norwick, a construction worker whose wife and five children came with him to the barbecue, said living in John Gotti's domain meant being immune to the crime that wracks other neighborhoods. ''Burglars stay away from here,'' Mr. Norwick said. ''You don't want to be on the wrong side of John Gotti.''

Asked if his conscience bothered him after accepting food from a man with Mr. Gotti's reputation, Mr. Norwick said, ''The man has never done nothing to me, except give me a free hot dog and free rides for the kids.''

Some people had come out just to catch a glimpse of John Gotti.

''To me he's a bad guy,'' said one resident as he waited to see Mr. Gotti arrive. ''But the neighbors think he's a great guy. He's a celebrity. So what can you do?''

A version of this article appears in print on July 5, 1989, on Page B00001 of the National edition with the headline: Defying Fireworks Ban, Gotti Party Erupts. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe